A question I receive time and time again is “Once you’ve published a blog post, how do you promote it?” and right now my response is simply “I share links to it on Facebook and Twitter.” That’s it. And I don’t even do this manually; the process is automated thanks to RSS feeds.

Of course, I’m able to do this because I’ve managed to grow the audience to a considerable size here at ViperChill. If you’re trying to get a new blog off the ground, it’s advised that you put in quite a lot more work. Even though I do such little promotion, many posts get hundreds of retweets and comments. The reasons why are quite simple.

Twitter is consistently a top 10 referring source of traffic to this website. Every day I receive targeted visitors from the site who tend to stick around for quite a while. If someone you’re following puts a link out there, there’s a good chance it will be relevant to you because you’re following that person in the first place.

Although you can automate Twitter traffic and get a ton of untargeted visitors, the type of targeted traffic I’m referring to in this post can be massive in helping you to promote your blog.

Comments help you to show a form of social proof that you can’t fake without a lot of time and they allow you to see if people are really interested in the type of content you’re putting out there. If you can get someone to comment on your blog, there’s a good chance you can get them to subscribe to it as well.

Finally, comments also help you drive more search engine traffic to your site thanks to the long-tail traffic that the words in them generate. Anything that shows community on your site is also a good thing in my eyes.

My Own Results

Instead of just talking about things in some roundabout way as most blogs tend to do, I prefer to show results from personal experiences to back up my advice. Without any egotistical intentions, here are some of my articles that received a large number of comments and tweets.

As you can see, I’ve had a lot of success at attracting both. Now let’s look at how you can do the same.

7 Ways to Get More Tweets and Comments

Build a Larger Audience

Perhaps the most obvious – but also the most useful – piece of advice I can give you in this area is to do what you can to grow your following. If I have 100 targeted followers on Twitter then simple logic would suggest that having 1,000 targeted followers would help me to get more retweets.

Similarly, if you have 100 blog subscribers then you’re simply not reaching as many people who can comment as you would if you had 1,000. Although the growth of this blog hasn’t directly correlated with more comments and tweets, it’s definitely had a large effect.

Be Controversial (In the Right Way)

Controversy creates attention. If someone in your social circle does something way out of the norm, there’s a good chance every member of that circle will quickly hear about it. If even a C-list celebrity releases a sex-tape, every large magazine and celebrity gossip blog is talking about them.

It’s important to know about the different types of controversy, however, before you try to utilise this on your blog. I’ve been to one blogging “seminar” in my life and it was held right here in Cape Town. To say I was disappointed is a total understatement.

One speaker – whom the others agreed with – told the audience of new bloggers to:

Attack other bloggers for no reason

Post adult pictures – even if they’re not related to your content

Call out people in the public eye on your business blog

And other bad advice I don’t want to pass on to you. Needless to say, the type of actions they promote may get you some traffic, but it will be fleeting and not something you could build a reputable brand with. Unless, of course, attacking people or pornography are the focus of your blog.

The type of controversy I’m talking about is writing posts that go against the grain, but only because you believe in something different. I did that in “The Most Important Blog Post You’ll Probably Never Read” which revealed that a lot of bloggers simply make money by teaching other people how to make money.

It went beyond what most people are willing to talk about in this industry but it also came from my heart and was total truth. It hit a nerve with readers and was a very successful post.

Make Both Actions Easy

If I can’t find a ‘retweet’ button on your website and didn’t find your post through Tweetdeck, I’m not going to tweet it. That doesn’t go for all Twitter users, I’m sure, but for myself and many others, we want you to make it easy for us to share your content. It makes no sense not to.

At the top of all ViperChill posts (click through if you’re reading this in a feed reader or your inbox) you will see a large button which shows how many tweets this post has and encourages other people to tweet it as well. It’s provided by Backtype and is available as a free plugin for WordPress.

I also include a tweet button at the bottom of all posts as well, and there’s a simple explanation for that. Someone is far more likely to share something after they’ve read it, rather than before just based on the title. The button at the top is more of a social proof indicator to show people that the post is probably worth reading.

Draw People in With Your Title

Although you may think this applies more to generating Retweets, it certainly applies to comments as well. As building a large following will help more people see your work, writing the write right title is going to encourage more of those readers to click through to your post.

I’ve said multiple times that your headline is the most important part of your blog post. Just make sure you can back it up with the content that follows. I know with a lot of confidence that many people retweet my posts just based on the title, rather than actually having read them.

Your title can also be used to ask a question so that when people start reading it they’re already in the frame of mind where they’re going to give you a response. If you ask the right questions then people might skip the post content altogether just to give you feedback in the comments section.

Utilise Reciprocity

If I link to the same blogger in three different blog posts there’s a good chance that they’re going to eventually link to me back. If I continually comment on the blog of someone who isn’t too large to notice individual commenters then it’s likely they’re going to come to my site to share their thoughts.

If I retweet you three times it’s likely that you’ll follow me and retweet some of my own posts as well. There are lots of cases and people where this wont work, but it will work the majority of the time from my experience.

The reason I mention three is not because it’s some magical number but it just implies repetition and some form of giving back. Anyone can retweet, comment, or link to you once. Performing any of those actions multiple times shows you’re not just some “Fly-by-nighter” and you actually care about the other persons website.

Many of the people who comment on and retweet posts from ViperChill are actually not people who I have done the same for. To be honest, I’m quite lazy in this regard because most of my time is spent on buying and grow websites; not on trying to grow this blog in any way.

Build the Right Connections

Most posts tend to get around 50-70 tweets on average, depending on what they’re about. When I write a really good post it can spread naturally and get in excess of 100 tweets. However, most posts are pushed past 100 tweets by being tweeted by someone with a ton of followers.

I’m not going to use any specific examples but they’ll just get inundated with requets, but there are two people with 80,000+ followers that I have asked on a couple of occasions to Tweet my articles. They were both relevant to my industry and people I’ve interacted with in the past.

Everytime they do that, my posts get a ton of retweets. They’re now both loyal blog readers and regularly tweet things that I never ask them to which helps get my content seen by a much wider audience. Once you’ve identified and connected with the influeners in your niche, don’t be afraid to just ask them for a tweet.

What’s the worst that can happen?

Learn to Write Magnetic Content

The clear difference between the content of mine which receives a lot of comments and gets a lot of retweets is simply the content that is the most compelling. For example, even though people seem to really enjoy my stats post and get a lot out of the transparency I share, they always get less tweets and comments than any other post.

They’re interesting to current readers, but it’s not really something you want to tell your friends “Hey, go check this out.” Especially when I do one of those posts each month. Instead, if I write something that people find directly useful to them and they think it will help others, then that’s far more likely to get shared.

If not on a conscious then definitely on a subconscious level, people view their own tweets as a representation of themselves. They don’t just want to share anything. So, something that’s packed with value in terms of information, humour, entertainment or news is far more likely to get shared than something generic or overly-personal.

Look at the kind of content that you comment on at other blogs and the kind of stories you share on Twitter. Doing this alone can help you see what it is in other peoples blog posts that you may be missing in your own.

BONUS TIP: Respond to your first few commentors as quickly as possible. People are more likely to join in the conversation if they feel like the post owner will respond to them personally. I make sure I’m online for at least 30 minutes after each post goes live so that I can do this.

hahaha, the irony!! Last week was a slow week for everyone I think 😉
Great tips – I can see how replying to the first comments can really help. I’ll have to start doing that now – I usually give it a few hours and answer in bulk, but it makes more sense that the first people there will think there is a proper discussion going on.
I actually really enjoy reading the comments on your blog – ALMOST as much as the posts themselves 😀

Another super awesome post man 🙂 !! I always try to respond to all my comments as quickly as possible.. !! Social bookmarking are really great way to get targeted traffic.!! Thanks for kick-ass long-depth article 😛 !!!

THat’s one heck of a blog post again, Glen. I nowadays even agree that the title is your most important weapon of influence. The right kind of controversy will always be there if you just speak your mind. Too many people cuddle with their words, afraid to hit some borders. The more personal style you bring into the action, the better the explosion.

I never thought about asking influencers to retweet my stuff, that’s awesome. I will leverage that with my masterpiece posts.
Kick-ass value, like always, keep rocking

It is interesting (telling?) that “Learn to Write Magnetic Content” is the last point on the whole post. Getting the right promotion/production ratio is difficult for new bloggers who always fear that they are not doing enough of one or the other.

Hi Glen,
I am really impressed by your all the posts. They are so much indepth and helpful that I never miss even one of your posts. I have also read all the other older posts of yours and I’ve set Viperchill as my homepage too. I would really like to thak you a lot for such your your effort.

I think commenting and tweeting go hand in hand much like a business. You know that feeling that you’re appreciated when you visit into a store, someone greets you, helps you find what you’re looking for then goes out of the way to send a personalized thank you – I think this shows a parallel in blogging.

I’ve noticed that replying to comments as soon as they appear really does help people continue to comment and jump into the discussion. I think there is a subliminal mindset that “oh, this post be going off! I need to get in this!” runs through a commenters head.

Likewise, Twitter has the same kind of effect when people with large followings tweet a post. Anyone following the person has the understanding and trust that this person is passing on very useful information and so it warrants a retweet.

It’s also worth pointing out that talking to these influencers is much easier than you think. You’re not going to get your head chewed off by an A-list blogger so you may as well ask. Think of it like dating, you never know how it will go before you make the move.

Hi Glen,
These are great tips. I especially like that you point out how important reciprocity is – it’s a sign that you are genuinely helpful and not just out for your own retweets. I noticed the more I retweet the posts of others the more likely they are to retweet my posts when I least expect it.
Also, I like the fact that you are present on your blog to reply to comments and support the conversation. I reply to comments, but not in the first 30 minutes – I’ll definitely give it a try and see how it works. Thanks for tips.

Yeah I do that a lot. For example on the last monthly report instead of just mentioning the stats I said “Can you guess how much traffic ranking for “viral marketing” gets you?” — I’m pretty sure that received a lot more clicks.

Glen, great post as usual. Connecting with influences in your niche can be vitally important for growth. I can think of a number of examples of how this happened over the past year or so, and the growth actually went both ways.

Hey… I like that too 30 min after idea. The thing is i normally dont get that many comment but ill remember that.

I have to say the way you format your post seem to engage me and seduce me into reading the whole article. I will admit that i dont like reading long post but i know that when i read yours i wont be disastisfied

Repetition is a key thing I think many people miss out on. It’s really a marketing lesson – for most, even the less popular, one tweet will not register to them. But when you do it twice, even, they feel a connection and appreciation for your effort. The bigger they are, the more this has to scale, but consistency is a must.

I agree, Ross. At first I was afraid that people would get tired of seeing my tweets – I change the wording up a bit, but ultimately it was the same link. Then I came to realize that different people are on at different times and so in their eyes, it’s not necessarily repetition anyway. I’ve gotten a lot more traffic that way.

Hey Glen,
Great Post. I had some trouble with the another retweet plugin last week so I installed the one you suggested– works great and I love that you can customize the colors!

I had a static page on the front page and it showed 29 tweets… I was super excited because I thought that one page had been tweeted 29 times… for my 3 fairly new blog, that would be incredible!

Alas, it was 29 posts — site wide! And 25 of them were me tweeting new blog posts! That’s why I removed the static page. It seems, no matter what page I put up as a static front page, it shows the tweets with my biggest fan — me!

I have a question — should I tweet my own blog posts? Should I be self-conscious (and remove the static page) since at this point, only a few other people are retweeting my blog?

Funny thing was, when I made it not the static page anymore, it still said 29 tweets, but when I clicked on the “29” it said it couldn’t find any results for that page…

If you want to give it a try, just go to Settings->Reading->Front page displays: Choose Static Page –>Now choose one of your pages as the Front page… When you go to your homepage, this should add up all the retweets on your entire blog…
(although I wish it wouldn’t!)

Hey Glen, I’ve learnt a lot from your blog. I like it a lot. I just started my first blog. I just wanted to point out a typo in the text under Write Magnetic Content.
“If not on a conscious then definitely on a subconscious level, people view their own tweets as a represntation <—- of themselves. They don’t just want to share anything. So, something that’s packed with value in terms of information, humour, entertainment or news is far more likely to get shared than something generic or overly-personal."

Reciprocity is a powerful tool, unfortunately I think it’s often abused.

Example: Some people do almost nothing but retweeting other people’s posts. The problem with this is that their tweets get almost no click-throughs. People simply don’t click on links when all the person does with their account is tweet them.

So, when someone tweets my post who does nothing but tweet posts, I get almost no click-throughs and don’t feel compelled to reciprocate because of the lack of value their tweet provides.

It’s the people who tweet a link occasionally that actually get people to click-through.

I agree on some level. Most of Brian Clark (@copyblogger)’s tweets are nothing but links. The difference is that his tweets are to really, really good content. Not just general or generic stuff. I do get what you’re saying though.

I don’t know why, but I was just thinking about this stuff today and going through random blogs has brought these exact topics to me. Maybe it’s The Law of Attraction, I don’t know. Anyway, thanks again for this advice. I’m going to try my best to implement the strategies that you stated here. Finally, this line cracked me up, especially with the letter part: “If even a C- list celebrity releases a sex-tape, every large magazine and celebrity gossip blog is talking about them.”

Gday Glen, fantastic content, fantastic blog, fantastic ideas.
What else can I say, FANTASTIC.
Converted loyal reader.
P.S Throw in some more posts about travelling and the bloggers lifestyle. Really inspiring!
P.P.S Dude, tell me I’m not too late on the consulting thing you had running. Where is it?
Regards Thomas

Glen
I think if anyone doubted your strategies, the “proof is in the pudding” as they say – you’ve already got a good deal of comments on this very post (as if you doubted yourself) 😉

Particularly agree that it’s good to be controversial in a non-offensive way. It’s good to take an alternative stand on a popular topic, but it still needs to be a fit for your audience and not too much of a deviation from what your regular readers are used to on your blog, otherwise I guess you could end up alienating your existing readership.

I truly love reading your post. There different from most blogs I read due to the length of content one each post. I have not read the “The Most Important Blog Post You’ll Probably Never Read” yet, but after you summarized what the post is about I’m definitely going to be reading it. Reason, I was going to fall into a trap of trying to start a blog about making money online, but I glad I came to senses and realized that I couldn’t be successful writing about something I have no experience doing. I thought it would be a great blog because it’s a popular niche, which I realized can be brutal to a newcomer. After a while of struggling I just decided to start a blog about two things I’m passionate about computers and my university – in which I just launched both sites not too long. But, I bounced off subject… lol… but as I was saying you provided me with some great and beneficial content that I have been trying to implement. Thanks 🙂

I totally agree with being controversial in the right way.It is not always good to go with the flow. It will benefit you better to go against the flow if you know that you’ll be following what’s best when you go against the flow.

Another thing i personally discover is that even if i write a great post with a bad title, it will be far more popular than a “usual” post with a great title – the quality of a post is evem more important.

Hi Glen again,
I have two questions now. The picture in each of your post, how do you get it. (I call it doodle for now). Those doodles are really most attention drawers and they shortly convery the summary of post. The’re pretty cool. And next, how do I make it to appear my picture in my comments?

Hey Glen,
I want to suggest you to write a post on helping people establish new blog especially, by teaching people how to write a about page even they have no achievement in the niche as beginners and how to attract people to subscribe to the feed and retweet even though nobody has done it yet and also about having people write some comments on your posts with your experience. I know that it will certainly help people.

My comments all appear to be from spam websites or lyrics websites that say something like “great post, I found this while searching for *Insert name of song and artist* lyrics.” It’s rather annoying! I do try and reply asap to other comments though. Having email notifications for this on the Blackberry probably helps… but I suppose that would be a nightmare for the amount of comments you recieve!

I am kinda new to Twitter, this article really opened my eyes, I need to make it easier for people to share my site, even though I have the ShareThis module, I think I need to make it more obvious and easier not only for Twitter but for Facebook too. Thanks so much Glen, great article, great tips.

Glen mate! That was such a wickedly refreshing post. But first let’s clear some business – You owe me a new mouseball. Mine broke scrolling down here to make a comment!
But seriously, I love that you have covered all the bases, but for me the poignant one was reciprocity. I am only new on the blogosphere (4months just) and at least 50% of my traffic comes as a result of commenting and tweeting on blogs. Not only this, as I am sure you dont need telling, the relationships and bonds formed during this time can only serve to help both parties in the long run.
I am glad you made special mention of Twitter. I recently posted about blog commenting and building relationships and as I mentioned then, if all the commenting we do is about sharing, why stop there. Tweet it, Digg it, just generally love it and YOU WILL get noticed.

Thanks Glen, long time lurker, first time commentator, it’s about time too!

Hi Glen, another great post. Sometimes I don’t pay enough attention to getting Re-Tweeted for all the content I am posting. My question: So for all my old posts which have no Tweets, is there any point in getting old content Re-Tweeted via a network.

Glen, I’m relatively new to your blog. Boy, I’m glad I found it, though. You’re a fantastic writer and have a lot of valuable information to share. I’m looking forward to going back through your old posts to see what I’ve missed.

Great information Glen! I wonder how much possible response (comments/trackbacks) is lost having a No-Follow Blog, knowing many only post to these. Feeling somewhat guilty of hording all inbound links for my blog and self, but does have it’s seo benefits, as I’ve been told.

Hi Glen! I’ve been reading your stuff literally all day long, threw the kids some peanut butter and bread for lunch and told ’em to work it out. :>)

I’ve got a question for you: how would you suggest promoting a personal blog? I have a site that I’ve been working on since 2006 basically just for family and friends, but it’s starting to get some traction and is (at least in my opinion) pretty funny. Promoting seems so self-serving, since it is all about me me me (and my family), but I would welcome any advice you could give. Thanks!

Hi Glen
I really enjoyed this article. I am just learning how to increase my business online through blog posts and other methods. There was a lot of useful information for me here. I will definitely be reading more of your posts. Thanks